This post has an update on our leadership for the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Prison Ministry. Some of you may know this already. I also want to make sure you all are aware of the report that the Chaplain requires from you for each service you provide. These reports are important because the Chaplain uses them to monitor how the Diocese is using its assigned time slots, and they may take away our time slots if they think we aren’t using them.
Our former director, Kevin Starrs, is officially retired as of August 16, 2024. I’m sure I speak for all of us in saying we will really miss Kevin. His wealth of experience with all the jails and prisons, and different Chaplains, and his history with all the volunteers, will be hard to replace. Most of all, his passion for serving those in jail and prison was a great example for us all. We say to Kevin, as he liked to say, “thank you! thank you! thank you!”. May God shower his blessings on Kevin and Silvia in the next phase of their lives.
Our new Director of Prison Ministry, Father Estevan Wetzel, officially started September 1. In addition to his responsibilities as Director, Father Wetzel will be the pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Phoenix. To help Fr Wetzel with prison ministry we have a new Coordinator of Prison Ministry, Ted Ebner. Ted has been volunteering at Watkins jail. He is married and a father of 3 children. Father Wetzel will handle sacraments for the inmates, and Ted will help by taking care of more administrative duties. I’m sure we’ll all learn more about Fr. Wetzel and Ted as time goes on.
I updated this website with contact information for Ted and Father Wetzel. You can find that here. This page is password protected. I have given you all the password, but if you forgot it, let me know, and I will give it to you.
I also have an update on the chaplain at Watkins jail, Chaplain Debbie Herrera. She will be retiring at the end of September. We don’t have any news about her replacement.
On a different topic, I want to make sure you’re all aware of the report that the Chaplain requires from you after your service. You must fill out a form for each service that you have provided. The form tells the Chaplain: the Church providing the service, the date, pod, your name, and the number of men that attended the service. The Chaplain uses this form to make sure we are using our assigned time slots at the jail. If we don’t provide this information, they may take away our assigned time slots. If you’re not aware of these reports, and how to fill them out, please see more details on this website here.
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